Free Republic

The flap with Shannyn Moore is over remarks the liberal blogger made about why Palin is quitting her job as governor ... Palin, through her lawyer, on Saturday threatened to explore "legal options" against Moore and media outlets that choose to republish like-minded "false and defamatory allegations" about Palin's resignation. Lawyer Thomas Van Flein said that soon after Palin's surprise announcement, several unscrupulous people "asserted false and defamatory" allegations. Moore is the only person named specifically.

Vanity Fair's Todd Purdum joined Chuck Todd, filling in for Chris Matthews on Hardball, to discuss his recent article on Sarah Palin.

Reporting from Washington -- A day after Alaska Gov. Sara Palin resigned, a federal official in her home state dismissed one potential explanation for her sudden and unexpected resignation -- a rumored FBI investigation into the former Wasilla mayor on public corruption charges. Despite rumors of a looming controversy after Palin's surprise announcement Friday that she will leave office this month, some of them published in the blogosphere, the FBI's Alaska spokesman said the bureau had no investigation into Palin for her activities as governor, as mayor or in any other capacity. "There is absolutely no truth to those rumors,...

As speculation swirled that her decision was connected to a pending corruption investigation, Mrs Palin's lawyer issued a four-page letter warning legal action against bloggers and US publications that reprinted the allegations, which she strongly denies. "To the extent several websites ... are now claiming as 'fact' that Governor Palin resigned because she is 'under federal investigation' for embezzlement or other criminal wrongdoing, we will be exploring legal options this week to address such defamation," said Thomas Van Flein, her lawyer, in a statement. He also told the Anchorage Daily News that he was unaware of any criminal investigation involving...

As Gov. Sarah Palin blasted the media Saturday in a tough Facebook post, her attorney delivered a strong warning to news outlets that they should not report any stories that allege the Alaska governor is leaving office because she is under any kind of federal investigation. CNN has not reported these allegations were in any way connected to the governor's decision to leave office early. "To the extent several websites, most notably liberal Alaska blogger Shannyn Moore, are now claiming as 'fact' that Governor Palin resigned because she is 'under federal investigation' for embezzlement or other criminal wrongdoing, we will...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 4, 2009 On July 3rd, 2009, Governor Sarah Palin announced her intent to resign her gubernatorial duties and transfer the powers of Governor to Lt. Governor Sean Parnell. Almost immediately afterwards, several unscrupulous people have asserted false and defamatory allegations that the “real” reasons for Governor Palin’s resignation stem from an alleged criminal investigation pertaining to the construction of the Wasilla Sports Complex. This canard was first floated by Democrat operatives in September 2008 during the national campaign and followed up by sympathetic Democratic writers.1. It was easily rebutted then as one of many fabrications about...

The latest issue of Vanity Fair isn't even on newsstands yet and it's already making headlines for a not-so-politely titled article, "It Came from Wasilla," about Gov. Sarah Palin. William Kristol at the Weekly Standard is calling it a "hit piece," taking writer Todd Purdum to task for his "dubious claims." A blogger at the Atlantic writes that the article "paints a gruesome picture" of the governor. Politico's Jonathan Martin mulls the "political fallout from the very tough piece."

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two Republican senators asked Monday for a congressional hearing to look at whether President Barack Obama acted appropriately when he fired the national service agency's inspector general earlier this month. Sens. Mike Enzi of Wyoming and Orrin Hatch of Utah said they were concerned about "significant questions raised regarding the propriety of the decision to remove the IG." Obama fired Gerald Walpin, the inspector general who investigates AmeriCorps and other programs that are part of the Corporation for National Community Service, saying he had lost confidence in him. The firing followed an investigation by Walpin finding misuse...

Oversight: If the White House really believes that AmeriCorps' inspector general was "confused" and "disoriented," how about open congressional hearings where the American people can see for themselves?The storm that erupted after the firing with one hour's notice of Gerald Walpin, the inspector general overseeing AmeriCorps, has not died down. Pressed for an explanation as to the reasons for the firing and why the law requiring Congress to be given notice and reasons 30 days in advance was not followed, the White House has resorted to old-time Chicago-style political smears.

Shawna Forde and members of Minuteman American Defense — an anti-illegal immigration vigilante group charged in the double homicide of an Arizona man and his 9-year-old daughter and the attempted murder of the man’s wife — shared a stage, if not their vigilante streak, with former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo.

<p>If you tell the lie often enough people will believe it. The libs are going to tag this on us and who will stand in their way besides talk radio?</p>

Dallas Morning News’s Wayne Slater become one of the first pundits after the shootings at the Holocaust Museum on Wednesday to hint that there was a connection to mainstream conservative activists. On CNN Newsroom, about two hours after the story broke, Slater linked this incident and the murder of abortionist George Tiller with “anti-tax secessionists in Texas,” his label for Tea Party protesters. Anchor Rick Sanchez moderated a panel discussion on the Holocaust Museum shootings after the bottom of the 3 pm Eastern hour of the CNN program....Sanchez asked the Dallas Morning News political writer if criminals like this suspect...

Geoffrey Dunn, in an unhinged huff piece at HuffPo, has charged Gov. Palin with plagiarism. In a dubious diary titled "Palin Plagiarizes Gingrich in Anchorage Speech," Dunn declares, "It's a pure case of unadulterated plagiarism": Palin acknowledged that "Recently, Newt Gingrich, he had written a good article about Reagan...." (Recently? It was four years ago; and she said "good," with an obvious disdain, since Gingrich has been rather dismissive of her recently.) 2. Palin: He said, regarding your dad Michael, he said that we need to learn from his example that courage and persistence are keys to historic achievement. Gingrich/Shirley:...

I'm sure the talk show host can defend himself just fine; however, the following shows just how low MSNBC will go to trash Republicans and conservatives any chance they get. On last night's Rachel Maddow Show, the host used a long-known ersatz quote supposedly uttered by Rush Limbaugh to, well, y'know, get some cheap digs in: (BEGIN AUDIO CLIP) RUSH LIMBAUGH, CONSERVATIVE RADIO TALK SHOW HOST (discussing Newt Gingrich's views on Judge Sotomayor): I didn‘t know why he retracted it and I still don't. I'm not retracting it. Nobody's refuted it. She would bring a form of racism and bigotry...

Re: Your on-air bashing of Free Republic So, you think that because one poster on FR comments that a diabetic supreme court nominee might not live to a ripe old age that all 350,000 of us are insensitive right-wing loons? Got news for you pal. The owner of Free Republic (namely me) is diabetic and I've already lost one leg due to this despicable disease and the other leg looks like it's ready to fall off any day now. My sister died of complications brought on by juvenile diabetes at the tender age 43. I've out-lived her in years, but...

Anyone else just catch O'Reilly slur of Free Republic He quotes a post says that bama's nominee has diabetes and may not live as long as other recent judges on the SC He sure does like to bash FR!!

Today, David Plouffe sent out an urgent message with an update on the fast brewing healthcare battle: We knew healthcare reform would face fierce opposition — and it’s begun. As we speak, the same people behind the notorious "swiftboat" ads of 2004 are already pumping millions of dollars into deceptive television ads. Their plan is simple: torpedo healthcare reform before it sees the light of day by scaring the public and distorting the President’s approach. We need the resources to take them head on with an urgent, grassroots campaign to pass real healthcare reform in 2009. When the swiftboaters flood...

Liz Cheney said Sunday that some of the stories in print about her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, were "fantasies" cooked up by some of his old Bush administration rivals. Responding to a question about Dick Cheney's role in pushing for aggressive interrogations, Liz Cheney pointed to Lawrence Wilkerson, the chief of staff to then-Secretary of State Colin Powell, for spreading inaccurate information about her father. Wilkerson "has made a cottage industry of fantasies about the vice president," she said on ABC's "This Week." "It's important to look at the source" of media reports, Cheney said. "Nobody talking about...

AND NOW . . . amidst billowing clouds of fragrant, aromatic first- and second-hand premium cigar smoke. . . it is time for . . . that harmless, lovable little fuzz ball, the highly-trained broadcast specialist, having more fun than a human being should be allowed to have, from behind the golden EIB microphone, firmly ensconced in the prestigious Attila-the-Hun chair at the Limbaugh Institute of Advanced Conservative Studies, serving humanity simply by showing up, and he’s not retiring until every American agrees with him, do NOT doubt him, with shrieks of joy at the mere mention of his name...

His response to the Wanda Sykes that is…. It’s just a tease at this point! Now we have not confirmed this (but we’re not pretending to be journalists). Here’s what we know so far. After Wanda Sykes made some rather nasty comments (attempted Jokes) about Rush Limbaugh that President Obama seemed to enjoy at the White House Correspondent Dinner…. Rush has responded as only RushLimbaugh can. After Wanda Sykes went off about: September 11th Hijacking Drug Abuse Kidney Failure Waterboarding Rush responds during his Monday Rush Limbaugh Radio Show in a “teasing” sort of way. This is apparently all his...

Gibbs on Sykes: 9/11 is not 'comedy' By: Alexander Burns May 11, 2009 02:01 PM EST In his daily briefing Monday, Robert Gibbs distanced the president from comedian Wanda Sykes’ joke comparing Rush Limbaugh to a 9/11 hijacker at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner. "I don't know how the guests get booked,” Gibbs said, adding that he hadn’t “talked specifically” with Obama about Sykes’ crack. “I think there are a lot of topics that are better left for serious reflection rather than comedy. I think there's no doubt 9/11 is part of that,” Gibbs continued.

Once billed as the most popular governor in America, Alaska Republican Sarah Palin has seen her popularity take a dive. According to a recent Hays Research poll, 54% of Alaskans have either a very or somewhat positive view of the governor and 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee while 42% have a very or somewhat negative view. The results are vastly different than a similar poll taken by Hays Research about a year ago which gave Palin an 86% positive rating and a 9% negative rating.

Now that Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala. has been named the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, some on the far-left are gunning for Alabama's junior senator. The battle is happening as President Barack Obama is on the verge of naming an appointee to the Supreme Court to fill void of Justice David Souter.Some of the left-wing points that suggest Sessions has racist tendencies were incorporated into a May 6 Politico story by John Bresnahan and Manu Raju. "By elevating Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions to their top spot on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Republicans have selected their chief inquisitor for...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACTS: Elsie Gufler (650) 697-1964 Tea Party Patriots http://teapartypatriots.org President Obama, Speaker Pelosi, and others owe 1.2 Million Tea Party Patriots an Apology. The American people deserve better from their Elected Representatives and are beginning to demand It. Among the political class it has apparently become acceptable, and even fashionable, for American politicians from the President on down to mock the citizens they represent. In a development that can only further denigrate the discourse necessary to any effective democracy, politicians and the "serious" news media are now mocking citizens regularly and with impunity. Supported by mainstream journalists...

Washington D.C., May 1, 2009 / 01:48 am (CNA).- The National Organization for Marriage on Thursday launched a new advertisement highlighting the efforts of some gay “marriage” advocates to characterize defenders of marriage as liars and bigots. The ad warns of the “devastating consequences” the establishment of same-sex “marriage” would have on religious liberty and claims proponents want to “silence opposition.”The ad, titled “No Offense,” also refers to attacks on beauty pageant contestant Carrie Prejean, Miss California, after she expressed her support for marriage between a man and a woman.Asked a question about same-sex “marriage” by Miss USA pageant judge...

"The current economic and political climate has some similarities to the 1990s,” so reads a recent DHS report, “when right-wing extremism experienced a resurgence fueled largely by an economic recession, criticism about the outsourcing of jobs and the perceived threat to U.S. power and sovereignty by other foreign powers.” Curious how an administration too sensitive to use the words “war on terror” or “jihadist” feels entirely comfortable mouthing the mindless phrase “rightwing” (sic) a full fifty times in one document. Word to the media: the “R” word works much like the “N” word. We can use it among ourselves, but...

In case you missed it ... HBO is making a movie about the 2008 presidential campaign. Hollywood doesn't wait around anymore, it seems. So already a casting director somewhere is probably asking herself this question: Who should play John McCain, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Barack Obama and -- yes -- Sarah Palin? Salon & Entertainment Weekly have posed the question, and it's a good one. Salon readers have pitched Megan Mulally, Hilary Swank, Sandra Bullock and Felicity Huffman for Palin and Laura Linney, Glenn Close and Meryl Streep for Clinton -- with Will Smith playing Obama. P.S. -- The movie...

For thousands of Americans, Tax Day was a moment to protest what they see as bloated budgets and a pile of debt being passed on to their children. For CNN, MSNBC and other media outlets, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to use the word "teabagging" in a sentence. Teabagging, for those who don't live in a frat house, refers to a sexual act involving part of the male genitalia and a second person's face or mouth. So when the anti-tax "tea party" protests were held Wednesday across the country, cable anchors and guests -- who for weeks had all but...

Obama's in for it now. Some local conservatives are throwing a "tea party." It won't be long until Utah severs relations with ol' King 'Bama.Adam Gardiner is organizing the soiree for April 15, high noon, at the Federal Building downtown. He's expecting a fist-shaking group of frustrated and powerless right wingers, including congressmen Jason Chaffetz and Rob Bishop. And you can bet publicity bottom-feeder Mark Shurtleff will be there. The A.G. has set his cap the seat of Sen. Bob "Burn a Flag" Bennett and this is just the crowd he's playing to.An this should bring tears to wing nut...

MSNBC prides itself as being the place for politics, the seemingly clever marketing slogan could be used to describe the network as the place where hosts try to use dirty humor about important political events. David Shuster, filling in for MSNBC loose-cannon Keith Olbermann on his April 13 broadcast, and his writers probably thought they were pretty clever when they pieced an item denigrating the tax protests by using the sexual term “teabagging.” Urbandictionary.com, cited multiple times by one MSNBC guest, describes it as when a man places his testicles “onto someone’s face, or into their mouth.” “For most Americans,...

In December 1773, Bostonians held a Tea Party in Boston Harbor to protest excessive British taxes. "No taxation without representation" was their message. On Wednesday, April 15, Americans will hold rallies across the country to protest onerous taxes. Organizers have a motto for their Tea Day - "taxed enough already." Big problem: There is a world of difference between 1773 and 2009. Two hundred-plus years ago, Americans risked life and limb protesting a distant and oligarchic system of government that did not represent the good people of Massachusetts. In 2009, the federal government is dysfunctional because, if anything, Washington is...

Liberals have created a powerhouse propaganda machine that helped Moveon.org smear a four-star general, promotes endless environmental scares and brags it can place its left wing themes in the nation's leading newspapers. Fenton Communications pitches for trial lawyers, collectively the largest contributors to the Democrat Party, as well as for the hard line environmental group Greenpeace; Venezuela's socialist leader Hugo Chavez; anti-war demonstrator Cindy Sheehan; and gay and abortion advocates. Its account executives arrive from such left wing outposts as the office of ultra liberal Rep. Dennis Kucinich, abortion provider Planned Parenthood, the anti-Bush ACLU, Greenpeace and the news media....

Recent earthquake activity in Alaska provided “CBS Early Show” co-hosts with a ready-made metaphor for a segment on the personal lives of some of the those surrounding Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. But their quake turned out to be barely a ripple. Hosts Harry Smith and Maggie Rodriguez couldn’t contain their smirks as they introduced the piece. “There's been an earthquake rumbling outside Anchorage, but there is some other rumblings, as well, near Wasilla,” Smith snickered. “Oh, indeed,” Rodriguez chimed in with her eyebrows raised. “Sarah Palin says that she is focused on one thing, governing Alaska. But it has been...

Recently, there have been some pollsters or pitchmen trading on the Sarah Palin name – taking a pulse on the Governor's favorability. None of these polls are authorized by SarahPAC or the Governor. Again, SarahPAC is not doing any telephone solicitation at this time.

The Campaign To Bankrupt The Palin Family Posted by Martin Knight Tuesday, March 24th at 5:21PM EDT From just September till now, Sarah Palin has accumulated a personal dept of over $500,000 in legal fees defending herself against fake/false/frivolous ethics charges. That’s Five Hundred Thousand Dollars. A group of Alaska liberals, with the apparent cooperation of members of the Alaska Democratic Party have been filing ethics charge after ethics charge against Sarah Palin. The aim? Not to get her impeached and booted from office, because every single one of the charges are frivolous, baseless and even fairly deranged - one...

One of the catchphrases I continue to hear are the talking points blaming everything that is bad or can be portrayed as bad on "the last eight years." Obama has talked often about "hope" and "change" and "transcending the tired politics of the past." But that's all it ever was: talk. In reality, he has pushed the blame-game of politics of personal destruction to a whole new level. You never heard President Bush blame 9/11 on Clinton, or talk about inheriting "failed policies" that allowed 9/11. Not once. You never heard George Bush single out media critics by name for...

Last week, I asked if you had a message you'd like to send Rush Limbaugh. The response was overwhelming. We received tens of thousands of submissions, and we picked the top five: * "Americans didn't vote for a Rush to failure" * "Hope and change cannot be Rush'd" * "Failure is not an option for America's future" * "We can fix America, just don't Rush it" * "Rush: Say yes to America" Now, we're putting it up for a vote. Decide which slogan Rush will see in his home town. The slogan with the most votes will be put on...

Throughout the 2008 presidential campaign, George W. Bush was the go-to boogeyman for Democrats eagerly attempting to reclaim the White House after eight years in exile. From the economy to Iraq, Barack Obama campaigned more against the outgoing president than he did his opponent John McCain. But with Mr. Bush enjoying his retirement in Texas and no clear leader emerging in Republican politics, Democrats were at a loss as to who could bear the brunt of their scorn, and provide a necessary distraction. This comes at a time when Mr. Obama’s bipartisan credentials are under fire after his stimulus package...

"It's out there. We deal with it."

Democrats took a swipe at Republicans - and conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh - with a Web page launched Wednesday morning on the official site of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. The page - found at imsorryrush.com - allows users to construct a Mad Libs-style message to Limbaugh using "the secret Republican Apology Machine" and sign it with the name of prominent Republicans who've released mea culpas to Limbaugh recently - including Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele. [Snip] Limbaugh made headlines on his radio show when he stated, four days before Barack Obama's inauguration, that he wanted...

According to the Politico Democratic strategists, months ago, planned to paint Rush Limbaugh as a bad guy to hurt the GOP and on Wednesday, the "Today" show followed that blueprint as Matt Lauer pilloried RNC Chairman Michael Steele over his flap with the talk show host: Doesn't Rush Limbaugh put people like you in a very tough position? If you agree with him publicly it sounds like you're rooting against the economic recovery and yet if you disagree with him and call him an "entertainer" and say he's provocative and sometimes what he says is "ugly," you're put in...

Top Democrats believe they have struck political gold by depicting Rush Limbaugh as the new face of the Republican Party, a full-scale effort first hatched by some of the most familiar names in politics and now being guided in part from inside the White House. .... The seeds were planted in October after Democracy Corps, the Democratic polling company run by Carville and Greenberg, included Limbaugh’s name in a survey and found that many Americans just don’t like him. “His positives for voters under 40 was 11 percent,” Carville recalled with a degree of amazement, ... "I hope he fails,”...

Playboy Magazine got its undies in a bundle over the nation wide Tea Party protests held last Friday that were inspired by CNBC's Rick Santelli's free market rant of February 19. As Noel Sheppard noted on March 1, the skin mag published a piece claiming that Santelli was part of a vast right-wing conspiracy to protest Obama's socialist policies. It turns out, however, that the story has been proven false and in response Playboy has mysteriously removed the piece that first raised the question of the grand conspiracy. Happily, the facts have won over on Playboy forcing it to pull...

Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh rejected reports that he is rooting for the failure of President Obama on his syndicated radio program Tuesday. Instead, he suggested that President Obama stands to gain from an economic failure. “I am an average citizen…I have a microphone,” Mr. Limbaugh said. He argued that he has been financially fortuitous in his life and asked why he would want to see the economy fail and his capital shrink. Mr. Limbaugh also responded to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel’s comment on CBS’ ‘Face the Nation’ Sunday that Limbaugh “is the voice and the intellectual...

New York, NY -- Chris Matthews has been on the pro-abortion side of the debate since before his time as a top Congressional aide for abortion advocates. Now the MSNBC host has gone overboard by referring to pro-life advocates who oppose pro-abortion Health Secretary nominee Kathleen Sebelius as terrorists.

I'm sure this will be the headline on Olbermann tonight.

A new study shows that the states that consume the most porn tend to be more conservative and religious than states with lower levels of consumption.

Back on January 29, we discussed [1] the daily strategy phone call engineered by Obama's Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel for friendly TV commentators and "reporters." Politico reported that Emanuel has a daily phone conference call with ABC's George Stephanopoulos, and CNN's James Carville and Paul Begala. With Rush Limbaugh's raucous CPAC address, as he termed it his "first address to the nation," we can see at least one example of what is likely an attack strategy resulting from the Emanuel phone session with a rush to bash Rush the day after the appearance. [Image credit: politico.com] As soon as...

Americans may paint themselves in increasingly bright shades of red and blue, but new research finds one thing that varies little across the nation: the liking for online pornography. A new nationwide study (pdf) of anonymised credit-card receipts from a major online adult entertainment provider finds little variation in consumption between states. "When it comes to adult entertainment, it seems people are more the same than different," says Benjamin Edelman at Harvard Business School. However, there are some trends to be seen in the data. Those states that do consume the most porn tend to be more conservative and religious...

One has to wonder about the thought process of some people. Dan Gilgoff, Faith reporter with U.S. News and World Report and Huffington Post writer, is a perfect example of what I am talking about. After a February 23 posting on Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal's Catholic faith, Gilgoff followed up the next day with a post claiming that Sarah Palin fans were smearing Jindal over his supposedly "secret Muslim" faith. Where did Gilgoff get such a ridiculous idea? Why, from just two commenters that posted on his entry of the 23rd, that's where. That's right, just two people claiming in...